Cooking and Eating-Quality Characteristics of Dark-Cutting Beef from Young Bulls

Abstract

The cooking and eating quality of semitendinosus (ST) and longissimus (L) muscle roasts from normal and dark-cutting beef of varying pH ranges (Group I, normal pH ⩽ 5.70; Group II, pH 5.71 to 5.99; Group III, pH 6.00 to 6.50 and Group IV, pH ⩾ 6.51) were determined. Roasts, obtained from young bulls (mean live weight 618 kg), were dry-heat roasted at 163 C to an internal temperature of 65 C. Evaluations by a trained taste panel (L and ST roasts) and consumer panel (L roasts) indicated that the eating quality of roasts from all pH groups was similar and acceptable. Differences among treatment groups in raw lean color were not detected in the cooked ST and L roasts. As muscle pH increased in both ST and L roasts, softness and tenderness scores increased and cooking losses decreased. Although small differences in other characteristics (juiciness, aroma and flavor) were sometimes noted, they were not of practical significance. Because cooked beef with pH indicative of both normal and dark-cutting muscle is likely to be acceptable to most consumers, these roasts have potential for use by the institutional and food-service sectors where raw meat color should be of little importance.